Transitioning to Adulthood: How Do Young Adults Fare and What Characteristics Are Associated with a Lower-Risk Transition? Research Brief. Publication #2014-18

Terzian, Mary A.; Moore, Kristin A.; Constance, Nicole

Child Trends

Youth must navigate various developmental tasks as they transition to adulthood, and during this period of "emerging adulthood," young people explore roles and relationships before committing to the ones they will fill as adults. This brief seeks to identify patterns and transitions during emerging adulthood to obtain a better understanding of the likelihood that young adults will experience a lower-risk transition to adulthood. The authors analyzed panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health, N = 12,166), using person-centered analyses, to examine the odds of youth engaging in lower-risk patterns/trajectories, specifically, minimal problems with heavy alcohol use, illicit drug use, criminal behavior, and financial hardship. Lower-risk transitions were defined as avoiding or overcoming problems by adulthood. The authors found considerable variation among young adults in reaching these milestones. The following are appended: (1) Descriptive Statistics of Analytic Sample--Overall and by Gender; (2) Group Differences in Latent Class Membership at Wave III by Gender; (3) Group Differences in Latent Class Membership at Wave IV by Gender.